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  HELIOS SHADERS
  A hand-written shaderpack for Minecraft: Java Edition
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Warm, vibrant lighting. Real sun and moon shadows. Volumetric
clouds, reflective water, god rays, and a clean cinematic grade
that runs without a monster PC.


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REQUIREMENTS
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  - Minecraft Java 1.21+ (built and tested on 26.1.x)
  - Iris Shaders + Sodium   (recommended)
      or OptiFine
  - Any GPU that supports OpenGL 4.x


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INSTALL
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  1. Install Iris + Sodium (or OptiFine).
  2. Launch the game, open  Options > Video Settings > Shader Packs.
  3. Click "Open Shader Pack Folder".
  4. Drop  "Helios Shaders.zip"  into that folder (do NOT unzip it).
  5. Select "Helios Shaders" in the list. Done.

  To change the look: click the pack, then "Shader Pack Settings".


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PROFILES  (one click in Shader Pack Settings > Profile)
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  PERFORMANCE  - shadows off, max FPS, still looks great
  LOW          - hard shadows + bloom, very light
  MEDIUM       - soft shadows, AO, waving plants, puddles
  HIGH         - the default. clouds, reflections, god rays
  ULTRA        - cranked everything, big shadows
  EXTREME      - screenshot mode. 4K shadows, thick clouds

  Pick by GPU, roughly:
    GTX 1050 / 1650 ............ LOW / MEDIUM
    GTX 1070 / 2060 / 3050 ..... HIGH
    RTX 3060+ / 4060+ .......... ULTRA / EXTREME

  Tip: shadow distance and render distance are the biggest
  FPS levers. If you're CPU-limited, lower render distance
  before blaming the shader.


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FEATURES
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  - Sun & moon shadow mapping with soft, colored PCF shadows
  - Screen-space ambient occlusion (contact shadows)
  - Multi-layer volumetric clouds + high cirrus
  - Reflective water with depth-based color and sun glare
  - Volumetric god rays / sun shafts
  - Rain wetness: darkened, glossy ground and puddles
  - Waving grass, flowers and crops
  - Handheld dynamic lighting
  - Bloom, filmic ACES tonemap, cinematic color grade
  - FXAA anti-aliasing, vignette, optional depth of field
  - A hidden surprise in the End dimension

  Everything is adjustable in Shader Pack Settings.


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CREDITS & LICENSE
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  Created by the pack author. All shader code is original and
  written from scratch. The warm, vibrant style is inspired by
  the look of popular community packs - no third-party shader
  code is included or copied.

  Free to use, share and edit. A credit is always appreciated
  but not required. Have fun.
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